All questions tagged Deloitte - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

Hello Chris,

Sure! Don't be afraid of reaching out to the HR, they are there to helo and part of their work is to answer candidates ;)

Good luck!

Luca

Hi,

It may vary from country to country, but in general, it has several parts:

1) Panel discussion with a case

Panel discussion is aimed to check how well you work in teams. Try to be nice and not push too hard. Leverage your industry experience and case prep experience. Feel free to contact me for panel case prep

2) 1-2 One-on-one interviews with managers that include case + fit.
One-on-one interviews are less formal and structured than in Big 3. 40% chance - marketsizing, 40% profitability, 20% standard market, company competitors, etc. framework. So prioritize your prep efforts accordingly. Also, be ready for fit: Tell me about yourself, why consulting, why company, leadership story, teamwork story, your questions to them

Best

Good luck!

Hi Anonymous,

I would recommend to consider the following elements to provide reasons on why you should consider a particular company:

• Sectors of interest: specific focus of the company in areas/products interesting for you
• People you met and culture: specific people of the company you discussed with, and the things they shared on the company
• Your growth opportunities: specific programs of the company you heard about to enhance your growth
• Company potential: how much the company grew in the last year, which is a good guarantee for your future career as well
• Size/reputation of the firm: smaller companies usually offer a more entrepreneurial culture, with higher growth potential internally. Bigger companies have more resources and support staff, and more prestige in terms of exit.

You may choose the three points more relevant for you and structure your answer accordingly.

Whatever topic you choose, you should apply a simple rule of thumb: if you can substitute the name of the company with another and have the answer that still makes sense, it means your answer is not specific enough. To be specific, you should talk about growth rates/specific people you talked to/specific research paper you read on the company. Yes, it will require some time spent to prepare this question in this way. But will also allow you to stand out, as very few people invest time preparing on this.

Hope this helps,
Francesco

Hi Anonym,

the specific questions depend more on the single interviewers than on the firm. Unfortunately, you cannot really prepare this so specifically.

However their written cases require a specific preparation. You can find an example here: https://www.preplounge.com/de/case-sammlung/candidate-led-ueblicher-stil/fortgeschritten/deloitte-consulting-case-footloose-74

If you like to exchange some thoughts on it, just let me know and we can have a call.

Best regards
Marco-Alexander

Hi Nick,

honestly, given the data I believe there is a flaw somewhere in the case. Why not contact them to find out?

Best regards

Hi Anonymous,

assuming they are offering the Consultant role as a standard for post MBAs, the easier way to negotiate higher seniority once you receive an offer is to get offers from competitors and let the company know you are considering them – I know cases where this helped to achieve a higher salary/seniority.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi Anonymous,

as mentioned by Vlad, if the interview is based only on case questions you can prepare as you would do for a standard consulting interview at MBB, Strategy&, RB, OW, ATK, etc. I would clarify with HR if there are additional steps involved, such as a group or written case, which are present at Deloitte in some countries (eg Germany).

I helped several people for Deloitte and have 15+ real questions they asked, including written cases; for more information please feel free to PM me.

Best,
Francesco

Hi,

It's a very standard written case interview.

I've uploaded some samples here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zor4m49eyx5qxal/AABeUN6mtiGkWhEklRjszX2Oa?dl=0

(message me for a password)

The best way to prepare is the following:

1. Prepare for a regular case interview - it helps a lot. Basically, prep lounge website is about it
2. Practice making slides. Look for publically available MBB presentations for reference. Good books are "Pyramid Principle" and "How to make it with charts"
3. Practice reading cases fast and prioritizing the information. I found useful two sources:

• Written cases you'll be able to find in google or in case books. I've seen a couple in "Vault Guide to the Case Interview" and "Insead Business Admission Test"
• Harvard cases - either buy or try to find online. You can find a couple of MIT cases here for free: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/LearningEdge/Pages/Case-Studies.aspx Unfortunately free cases don't have the prep questions.

The appropriate structure for BCG written case is (However you should check the format with the company you are applying to):

Slide 1: Context, Objective, Recommendations

Slide 2-4: Analysis (Usually 1 slide with a table, 1 slide with graphs and 1 slide with pros and cons)

Slide 5: Next steps or risks & mitigation

Good luck!

Hi Neeraj,
McKinsey has two public-sector cases on their website (https://www.mckinsey.com/careers/interviewing). You could start with them.

Have a look at casebooks from business schools (Wharton, Kellogg, etc.). They often have some public sector cases. You may begin with reading one or two cases first so that you get an understanding of how to approach these cases.

Good luck with your prep!
Regards,
Daniel

Hi,

Next to asking this question here, I would advise you to reach out to the recruiter/HR-person/contactperson to ask what is expected of you and how you can best prepare.

Jorrit

Sorry, what's the question exactly?

Hi,

Based on the description, it may be closer to the PE / IB M&A interview that is much more technical and detailed in the financial part. Usually, they give you much more time to prepare and do the valuation on paper / excel. Depending on the company you'll need to:

• Find the relevant information in P&L, Balance sheet, CF statement
• Do the simplified valuation using NPV: calculate cash flows and make assumptions about growth rate and discount rate
• Do the valuation using comps - you'll have to explain which comps you will use and why
• Do the valuation of the synergies
• Play with different scenarios (e.g. how the stock-price will change if the deal terms leak into media, or how should the companies behave in a bidding process)

There are two types of frameworks you may use:

1. Commercial due-diligence of the target company
2. Synergies calculation of two merging companies

Note also that it can be a mix of both.

1. For Due Diligence you can use the following structure:

Market

• Size
• Growth rates
• Profitability
• Segments
• Distribution channels

Competition

• Market shares of competitors and their segments (see the next point)
• Concentration / fragmentation (Fragmented market with lots of small players is less mature and easier to enter from a scratch. Concentrated market is hard to enter but has potential acquisition targets)
• Unit economics of the players (Margins, relative cost position)
• Key capabilities of the players (e.g. suppliers, assets, IP, etc)

Company

• Unit economics (Margins, costs) in current or target markets
• Brand
• Product mix
• Key capabilities

Feasibility of exit (in case of a PE company):

• Exit multiples
• Exit time
• Existence of buyers
• Risks

2. For Synergies Calculation you can use the following structure:

1. Revenue synergies - here you calculate the synergies in price and quantity (depending on the case it may be new geographies, new products, new distribution channels, bigger share on shelves crosselling opportunities, etc.)
2. Cost synergies - typically you use a value chain structure tailored to the industry (e.g. supply-production-distribution-marketing-after sales support)
3. Financial synergies - working capital, capital structure, tax
4. Risks - major risks that can decrease the synergies (tip: don't underestimate the merging companies culture factor)
5. Total synergies potential in $, adjusted by risk (probability of failure)

Good luck!

Hi,

Here I've uploaded some written case samples (Message me for a password)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zor4m49eyx5qxal/AABeUN6mtiGkWhEklRjszX2Oa?dl=0

The best way to prepare is the following:

1. Check if the calculator is allowed. So far it was. If not - you have to train mental math. I posted the main tips here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/tips-to-do-big-multiplications-in-my-mind-726#a1422
2. Prepare for a regular case interview - it helps a lot. Basically, prep lounge website is about it
3. Practice reading cases fast and prioritizing the information. I found useful two sources:

• Written cases you'll be able to find in google or in case books. I've seen a couple in "Vault Guide to the Case Interview" and "Insead Business Admission Test"
• Harvard cases - either buy or try to find online. You can find a couple of MIT cases here for free: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/LearningEdge/Pages/Case-Studies.aspx Unfortunately free cases don't have the prep questions.

Good luck!